Peony Planting Curse

Campion Maltese Cross attracts the hummingbirds and butterflies

The first maltese cross flowers (campion) opened a few days ago, the ones at the bottom rock garden bed. The hummingbirds have already found them!  The little ruby-throated male that was there yesterday was almost as big as  the house wren which my husband was holding in his hand...  (The wren flew into the window at the side of the house and was lying on the grass stunned. He was afraid that one of our cats would find it so he picked it up. It looked completely baffled sitting there in the palm of his big hand as he gently stroked it with his thumb. Then he put it up by the bird feeder where it would be out of harm's way and soon it flew off safely.

The Maltese crosses in the other flower beds have started to blossom now as well.

Blue Sage "May Night"

The bees are still busy in huge numbers around my two large blue sages 'May Night" variety. I would recommend this variety to anyone. It grows quickly and well, and is not fussy about soil, water or most growing conditions. Of course in their present location these 2 get oodles of sunshine. I did plant a seedling from there into my long perennial bed and it is not as big , I admit. It gets shaded from some of the surrounding perennials for part of the day and that particular bed is one of the last ones to lose the snow in spring so it IS behind in growth.
I also have a pink variety of sage and it is the same age as the blue ones but barely half the size. It also is slower to bloom, but again , it could be the location it's in.

Blue clustered bellflower

The blue campanula (clustered bellflowers) are strong stemmed this year, very tall and upright. I guess it appreciates all the rain we have had this spring and summer.  It's a beautiful deep blue color, but this variety spreads readily by roots so I had to be pretty ruthless in digging much of it out this spring. It doesn't like to be dry and it also takes a couple years for it to really grow and bloom, but once you have it it likes to try and take over.

Speaking of rain, my poor little Lewisia "Little Plum" plant has rotted off at soil level because of all the rain! I had just planted it a few weeks ago and it started out looking so pretty and healthy, but now it is on its last legs. It is a rock garden drought resistant plant so it didn't appreciate all the moisture. I put what is left of it into a pot to leave on the deck (out of the rain), if it choses to live, that is.  I planted the lavendar there which I had dug out of it's first location where it was getting too much shade. This new spot gets a lot of sun so it should do well there, hopefully.

I weeded some of the vegetable garden particularly in the almost non-existent lettuce patch. (I guess there is something to be said for buying new seeds instead of using up the old ones. :)  I must remember to make a note in my garden journal to remember to buy new seeds next spring.

I should take all of my old veggie and flower seeds and throw them on my wild flower bed or better still on the bare patch in the long rock garden by the road where my diligent husband dug out a dead juniper. I did plant a few things in that spot, a healthy young Nineback "centre Glow" (which I paid too much for at Canadian Tire), a couple of white daisy diggings, a malva perennial and a few hens and chicks, but it still has lots of space for seeds which may be lucky enough to germinate....  Like a 'growing contest', LOL!

The 'chickweed/ creeping charlie' is huge and healthy- no surprise there! It seems to thrive no matter what the weather conditions are. I wish there was an easy way to get rid of it other than stooping in the garden for hors picking out every little piece of plant and root.  I despise it even more than dandelions!

I am so thrilled with my gorgeous peony blossoms! There are 8 on this shrub, which may not seem like much to people who have an older established peony bush but it is the most blossoms I have ever had on my own peony! :)   I must admit, I am "peony challenged", LOL! 

I had a peony planting curse on me which I broke this spring so I am very happy about that!  I have a terrible peony planting record. I know that it is very important not to plant a peony too deep, or it will only get leaves and no blossoms; you have to take care that the crown is just at soil level.  But up until this spring, none of the peonies I have planted over the last 30 odd years has ever bloomed! Now that's worse than the bad luck you get from breaking a mirror! I have no idea why I found that so challenging. I seem to have a green thumb when it comes to 98% of other types of plants.....  

 But the good news is that one of the peonies that I had transplanted from the very shaded part at the back of one flower bed last spring has a blossom on it! Pretty amazing considering that moving a peony can set it back 2 or 3 years.  But, OK, the other 2 which I planted/ transplanted still only have leaves so the curse is not totally lifted yet. :)  

Peonies need to be well watered during drought especially after the blossoms are finished because then they are setting the blossoms for next year. It's a good idea to add bone meal to your peonies twice a season to help produce more flowers. The great thing about peonies is that they can last up to 20 years in the same spot! 

Last but not least:

Sedum

I love this little varigated sedum plant. It gets the prettiest little flowers and is noninvasive, and undemanding as far as growing conditions go. What more can you ask for?